This is what it is like in the summer - but alas - today we will have to settle for a picture in front of the picture. They bring wheels of cheese to be weighed with a ceremony and costumes recreating the traditions for the tourists. I found a local cheese shop and brought home some nice aged gouda.

Allie Hutten is the daughter of Tante (aunt) Niske, the sister of Jack's father. Her husband is Gerrit. We had a lovely visit in their apartment in Veenendal, lunch at a local resturant and some shopping downtown.

Jack has a wonderful cousin, Dea Huttinga, and her husband Harm is just as open and welcoming to us. We have visited them before and really enjoy their company. They speak very good English. Both are retired from university life in Wageningen. We also got to visit with their son Jeroen who lives in Athens but works in Holland and stays at his parents home a couple of nights a week.

While we were out, Harm realized that he had turned the key on the inside of the front door to the locked position. This meant that he could not insert the key from the outside to get into the house. We were locked out! But perhaps the key in the side door was not in that locked position. But - alas - it too was locked! So a ladder was taken from the garage and Harm began his break and enter activity.

After removing the bar across the upper window, Harm had to reach allll the way in to remove the key from the lock on the inside of the door. All this B & E activity happened while it was raining rather vigorously outside!

At last we could get into the house!

Oom (uncle) Harm Haan is Jack's mother's youngest full brother. He will be 93 in January. He really enjoys our coming to visit so we spent some time on both Thursday and Friday with him. He has and apartment attached to the home of his son Harry. We stayed in a hotel in the nearby town of Emmen on Thursday night so we could visit again the next day.